A greenhorn lepidopterist at large in suburban London

Berrylands Station is on the London Waterloo to Hampton Court line between New Malden and Surbiton, a 25 minute train journey from central London. I became aware of its potential for attracting moths in late August 2008. The station is situated on an embankment with the Hogsmill Sewage Farm directly to the north and a typical mix of suburban houses and gardens to the south. The elevated aspect of the station and the comparative lack of domestic and street lighting in the immediate area mean that it acts like a huge moth trap, there are white-painted covered waiting areas and staircases on both platforms, these are illuminated at night and most of the moths are found in these areas. What follows is my attempt as a novice lepidopterist to record and catalogue all the macro moths I encounter on my daily commute to work along with the occasional "awayday" in search of other British lepidoptera .

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Purple Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak
As usual I'd given the station a good going over early morning with a nice Dark Spinach the pick of a rather meagre haul. I wasn't expecting much this evening, but it was overcast and muggy so I thought I'd give it another go and with just a minute until my train arrived I found what I thought was a carpet with it's wings up. I had no time to examine it so I potted it and took it home where I was amazed to see that it was a Purple Hairstreak. I have actively searched for White-letter Hairstreak as there are a lot of small elms just outside the station, but I've not had any luck; Purple Hairstreak is a station tick and I shall release this one into the oaks adjacent to the downline platform  tomorrow morning. It's been a very slow year at the station so far with just 74 species of macro recorded but this total does include five new species, Cypress Carpet, September Thorn, Barred Red, Broad-barred White and the latest addition, August Thorn.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Awayday: Dungeness, July 21st 2012

Goat Moth
Striped Hawkmoth
Purple Thorn
Sussex Emerald
Waved Black
Clancy's Rustic
Blackneck
Privet Hawkmoth
obsoleta Pale Grass Eggar
Jersey Tiger (Brockley)
Cynaeda dentalis
A somewhat belated post about another enjoyable awayday to Dungeness with Steve Spooner. Last Saturday was warm and sunny and like most other moth people I was in sore need of some good leps to make up for the washed out spring offerings, as usual Dungeness did not disappoint. First up was a slightly tatty Striped Hawkmoth, a new one for Steve but one I've seen before on Portland; it was the first of four hawks the others being Privet, my first in over 30 years, Elephant and Poplar. New macros for me included Goat Moth,  Blackneck, Clancy's Rustic, Festoon, Purple Thorn and Small Waved Umber with a supporting cast of Dunge regulars, chief amongst them Sussex Emerald, Waved Black, Pygmy and Rosy Footmen and the obsoleta form of Pale Grass Eggar. A few good micros were also had including Synaphe punctalis and the sublimely beautiful Cynaeda dentalis. On the way home I dropped into Brockley, London headquarters of the Jersey Tiger and I found a single moth in the fading light, there should be dozens out by next week

Monday, June 18, 2012

Cypress Carpet

Cypress Carpet at Berrylands Station, 15/06/2012
Cypress Carpet at Berrylands Station, 18/06/2012
Last Friday (May 15th) I found a small, dark carpet at rest high in London-bound staircase; thinking it was probably the first Yellow-barred Brindle of the year I got my binoculars out and I was amazed to see it was a Cypress Carpet, a new macro for the station and a lifer for me. I managed to pot it and take a few photos before releasing it, as the photo above shows it had some damage to it's right wing. This morning I found another small dark carpet in almost exactly the same place; another Cypress Carpet, and a different one as the right wing shows no damage. I managed to get some photos of this one without potting it. I sometimes get a run of records from certain species which in subsequent years either vanish or become very scarce; Burnished Brass was everywhere in 2009 but I haven't had one since. My theory is that a female lays eggs on the larval foodplant close to the station and when the next generation emerges as adults they are attracted to the station lights, if the female lays on a plant that isn't close then the emerging moths are distracted by other lights and do not find the station. It's a nice theory, or was, as the nearest Leyland Cypress is in an area with lots of light pollution and the moths should not find the station at all. My guess is that I will be finding these sublime little carpets all summer long and then it will become a mega rarity again, so I'd better make the most of it while it lasts.    

Saturday, June 02, 2012

The Micro Moths of Berrylands Station (No.2 in an occasional series)


European Corn Borer (Ostrinia nubialis) 15/7/2011

This one's from last July and it caused me a lot of head scratching at the time until the penny finally dropped. European Corn Borer is not a species I would have expected to find in suburban London, but it has colonised the area recently and it is a welcome addition to the station list. On the continent it can be a severe pest of maize crops but I don't think the yeoman farmers of Surbiton have too much to worry about.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A very early Small Dusty Wave

The year often gets off to a slow start at Berrylands and 2012 was shaping up to follow that trend. Up until this morning just four species of macro have been logged and for the second year running no orthosias have put in an appearance. The fifth macro of the station year showed up this morning, a nice Herald, closely followed by the sixth, and I was astonished to see that it was a Small Dusty Wave. My earliest previous record of this common idaea was on April 29th 2010, a good month before it should be flying; this one must be some kind of record breaker, needless to say the CR has been informed.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Mothing Year at Berrylands: 2011


Four of the 15 new species recorded in 2011: Peach, Blossom, Elephant Hawkmoth, Leopard Moth and Purple Bar

The year got off to quite a good start with Mottled Umber and Winter Moth both turning up on January 2nd, but that was it until March 22nd when Double-striped Pug was recorded, these three moths were the only species noted in the first quarter of the year. Things started to pick up in April with five species recorded; Herald on the 11th, and Brindled Pug on the 12th, then nothing until Waved Umber on the 21st followed by Common Marbled Carpet and Pale Prominent, both on the 25th. May was the most prolific month with 26 species recorded; Brimstone Moth on the 2nd, Small Dusty Wave and Figure of Eighty both on the 6th then White-spotted Pug, Mottled Pug, Green Carpet and Bright-line Brown-eye all on the 10th; a Cinnabar turned up on the 12th along with the first of 15 new species for the station, a pristine Purple Bar. Things then slowed down for a few days until a Riband Wave on the 16th followed by Pale Tussock, Pale Mottled Willow and, for the third year running, Toadflax Brocade, all on the 17th,  Common Pug turned up on the 18th, Snout and Small Fan-foot on the 19th, Willow Beauty and Buff Ermine on the 22nd, White Ermine on the 23rd and Angle Shades on the 24th. Then nothing until the 30th when Least Carpet  and Treble Brown Spot turned up, the month finished in a rush with Small Blood-vein, Single-dotted Wave, Dwarf Cream Wave and Barred Straw all on the 31st. Five new species for the station turned up in June, Oligia agg. on the 2nd, Oak Nycteoline on the 16th, Pheonix on the 22nd, Foxglove Pug on the 23rd and Leopard Moth on the 27th; another 12 species were recorded during the month; Garden Carpet and Yellow Shell on the 5th, Common Footman on the 8th, Blotched Emerald on the 12th, Uncertain on the 14th, Lime-speck Pug on the 16th, Dun-bar on the 21st, Common Emerald on the 22nd, Brown Silver-line on the 23rd, Heart & Dart on the 26th, Scalloped Oak on the 27th and Clay on the 29th. July also produced five new species for the station; Peach Blossom on the 14th, Scarce Footman on the 21st, Tree-lichen Beauty on the 27th, Lunar-spotted Pinion on the 29th and Elephant Hawkmoth on the 30th. Freyer's Pug, Early Thorn and Silver Y all turned up on July 1st followed by Marbled Beauty on the 3rd with Dingy Footman and Small Ranunculus on the 5th, the second year in a row that this recent re-colonist has turned up at the station. Common Wainscot appeared on the 10th followed by Olive on the 14th, Dusky Sallow on the 22nd, Ruby Tiger on the 25th, Dark Spinach on the 26th and Swallow-tailed Moth and Cloaked Minor, both on the 30th. There were only five additions in August and no statiion firsts; Straw Dot  on the 2nd, Yellow-barred Brindle on the  8th, Lesser Yellow Underwing on the 9th, Shuttle-shaped Dart on the 11th and Small Fan-footed Wave on the 26th. September was a suprisingly good month with two station firsts; Centre-barred Sallow on the 9th and Juniper Pug on the 16th; six more species were recorded, Turnip Moth on the 1st, Square-spot Rustic and Vine's Rustic, both on the 2nd, Large Ranunculus on the 19th, Flounced Rustic on the 22nd and Lunar Underwing on the 23rd; by contrast Pink-barred Sallow  on the 3rd was the only new species recorded during October. The last two months of the year are usually very unproductive but this year both months contributed station firsts; Scarce Umber on November 24th and Red-line Quaker n December 22nd. Finally two other stations on the commute both added moths not recorded at Berrylands, Maiden's Blush on April 20th and Grey Pug on May 6th, both at Earlsfield with Chocolate Tip on May 6th and Broad-barred White on June 24th at Raynes Park. 

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Micro Moths of Berrylands Station (No. 1 in an occasional series)


Beautiful Plume (Amblyptilia acanthadactyla) 28/2/2012

It is beyond the scope of this blog (and the identification skills of the author) to put a name to all the micro moths encountered at the station but if an identifiable micro presents itself for photography then it will be duly snapped and posted here for posterity. This Amblyptilia acanthadactyla is the first species for the station in 2012, it is usually a toss up between this and Emmelina monodactyla; for the first moth of the year, no other plume moths have yet been recorded  although some of them are so similar I have probably overlooked a species or two,

Sunday, February 26, 2012

A February Comma

Comma at Gallions Reach, 27/2/2012
















I came across this Comma whilst out birding at Gallions Reach. I was half expecting to find a butterfly today on account of the incredibly mild weather, but I thought it would be a Red Admiral or Small Tortoiseshell. According to my Collins Butterfly Guide if the weather is mild Commas will emerge from hibernation in the winter months but I have never seen one in February; my 2012 lepidoptera list now stands at three: Early Moth at New Malden Station on February 19th, Amblyptilia acanthadactyla at Berrylands Station on February 25th and Comma at Gallions Reach on February 26th.